Bonum Certa Men Certa

An "EU OS" Would Need European Components

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Mar 23, 2025,
updated Mar 23, 2025

EU OS Is a New Community-Led Linux Alternative for Europe’s Public Sector

GNU was started in the US (Boston), Linux started in Europe, but both are now managed from the US. UNIX had also begun in the US. RHEL in its current form is not Free software; there was a question (directed/issued to the FSF in Boston) about it almost two years ago, it wasn't answered last year, but last month the FSF finally spoke about RHEL keeping some of its source code secret.

Suppose Europe wants to lead rather than license whatever comes out from the Oval Orifice. Should it make itself dependent on IBM? Absolutely no.

"Getting away from US technology by ... MOAR IBM," one reader joked, citing the article "EU OS Is a New Community-Led Linux Alternative for Europe’s Public Sector". It says:

First and foremost, this initiative is still in its very early phases—the official project documentation includes a conspicuous warning that, at the moment, it is “a work in progress.” Simply put, you haven’t released anything yet — no install ISO, no alpha version, not even some technical details. Just an idea at this point.

It is designed as a Proof-of-Concept built upon Fedora Linux, complemented by the KDE Plasma desktop environment. According to the developers, countries could add a specialized “national layer,” regions could add their own enhancements, and individual organizations could fine-tune additional functionalities.

The reader wondered, "why not Arch or Arch based, since that is now the cutting edge anyway?"

There are hundreds of European distros built for and by Europe. Some are based on Arch.

Arch is no less stable than Fedora.

Heck, Fedora is by no stretch of anyone's imagination European. It's controlled by the US at many levels, including the Council (which is, by design, controlled by IBM staff; they maintain a majority in there).

According to this update from 2 days ago about IBM layoffs: "280 employees impacted [in Bratislava, EU]. I am wonder Ing [sic] when this will end. I presune [sic] when they fire the remaining employees and nové [sic] the Jobs to India."

There are many European (or Europe-led) distros of GNU/Linux. EU OS developers ought to look at those. Fedora does not even have a certain future anymore.

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